Gen III Spoiler Removal w/photos How To

Very informative.
Thanks for the reassurance on how easy the trim comes off I was afraid to lever it in case it broke.
I noticed that my spoiler seem to be very slightly loose at the ends when I pull it up and down. I was going to remove the trim and check the nuts you mention, but it seems it may be the blue clips at the ends that are not tight enough.
So if I wanted to remove an undamaged spoiler, are these "devil clips" attached to the spoiler and all I'd have to do is undo the 10mm nuts ?

 

What a great son to do that for dear old dad. I took off my rear windshield wiper and motor, installed some extra sound /insulation material, so this looks familiar. Good luck on the project!:cheer2:

 

Tell your dad not to feel too bad. I did the same thing during the second week I owned the car. Backed it up with the hatch open, and it caught the garage door handle. In my case, I also cracked the brake light, which does not come with the new spoiler.

I also broke one of the blue snaps and all the clips.

When I put on the new spoiler, it sat higher on the rear edge, so it bounced up and down. I think when it broke off, the sheet metal around the center hole got pulled up before that devil-clip pulled out. Then the new one tried to sit on the little mound, lifting the rear edge.

I ended up pounding down the sheet metal to get it to sit at the right angle again, and have the rubber sticky tape stabilize it.

You'll see what I mean when you get the new one.

Also, do not drop the nuts inside the hatch sheet metal, they'll slide down (forward) and are very hard to retrieve.

 

Hey!!!! Not too hard not to do that..... I had my hatch opened and I closed the garage door..... then all hell broke loose. I was lucky . . . the only damage was the leading edge of the spoiler was scratched. I did buff it out by hand and ended using some touch up paint to color the base coating.

I think toyota thinks every one keep the car out doors. Those who have garages . . . be careful if the rear hatch is opened and you close your power door.

I have a friend with a RX350 ... He did the same thing.

 

Wouldn't it be so much more fun to tell you dad -
"What the Hell were you thinking?"
- or -
"Why didn't you look before you backed up?"
Maybe you should just invoice him for your time spent?

 

Thanks for the photos and discription of how to get the trim off.

We also have a 2010 but mine seems to be missing the anchors you are calling "devil clips". I would think the clips would better anchor the bolt to the spoiler. On mine the heads of the bolts which pass through your "devil clips" were just imbeded in the ABS plastic of the spoiler with only about 1/32" of plastic coverage. There is virtually no anchorage, no reinforcing. See attached photos

Has anyone else who replaced a spoiler found the metal "devil clip" anchors? On the ($400) repalcement spoiler is there any more structure behind the bolts? Can you see the clips?

 

UHHH!!!! I WISH i saw this thread before I drove into my garage with the trunk open, my old car was able to go into the garage with no problems.

And this one, not so much, I scratched it and nearly cried. 3 days old. Can this be taken off and repainted? or does it need to be replaced?

 

How deep is the scratch? Any crack, or just scratch?

I closed a an automatic garage door on our open hatch, soon after purchase. Everything missed except this trailing arm on the door mechanism. It put a single thin scratch along the top of the spoiler, and chewed up the trailing edge a bit more significantly.

I worked on the chewed edge with pumice first, then buffed with rottenstone. Then applied a few light strokes with an applicator brush, of gloss black touch-up paint. The scratch on the top I just ignored, for now. Step back a couple of paces and it disappears. Unless the light is just right.

Yes. I've taken mine off. The main wrestle is prying loose the interior plastic panels, to access the nuts on studs on the underside of the spoiler. Once those are off, there are still the 2 plastic push-in fasteners, one at each end, per description earlier in the thread. Also, don't forget to disconnect the wire harness for highmount brake light.

Then, as long as the studs have not broken loose, you could get it repainted. I've thought about even using plasti-dip, or getting it painted to match body color.

Personally I'll likely stay with what I've done so far.

 

Yeah its just scratches on top, but on the edge it looks like metal. What do you think?

Edit -- God what a pain figuring out how to upload photos.

 

Holy crap that is scuffed bad

Mike

 

Great job explaining how to remove the spoiler!

I didn't want to spend $$$ on a replacement and drilling holes through the top surface seem radical. So I drilled and tapped the mounts which remained in the hatchback, cut some threaded 1/4" x 20 rod to 1" lengths and simply attached the spoiler to the hatchback using this old-fashioned assembly technique.

Thanks to the original poster for his efforts and the clever method to suspend the hatch

 

If anyone is looking for a replacemnt spoiler for a 2012, with a real small, hard to find scratch, I have one for sale:
2012 Toyota Prius OEM Rear Spoiler PN#76085-47910 | eBay

 

Thanks for posting this. Especially the info about those "Devil Clips".
Mine looked about as damaged as yours, but I used a grinder and removed some of the metal from those clips, so I could reinsert them into their locations. Fastening them in with JB Weld, and crossing my fingers. Would like to save the cost of a new spoiler, and so far all I've invested in an evening not watching television. Going to Napa tomorrow to see if I can get replacements for the two blue clips, and some appropriate gasket material to go round the Devil Clip threaded posts.

 

Looks like I have the same situation. How did the JB weld hold up? Did it work for you? Which JB weld did you use - for plastic or steel? Okay I used the JB Weld and it looks like it will work> I am pretty handy and I really don't want to pay toyota to remove and install a new spoiler. The paint on mine is still ok. It just broke loose like the rest of them. I will post results in a week or two unless it falls off. Make sure you also use some silicone when you put the old one back, around the screws to stop any leakage.

 

I haven't torn my spoiler off, but it is quite loose. If I hold the rear edge, I can rock it up and down by a few degrees. I can hear some type of seal releasing as I lift it. It doesn't move laterally or twist on the horizontal.
I tightened the nuts, but I couldn't put more than an eighth of a turn. At the last service Toyota checked and tightened the nuts and tried some washers.
I can see foam under the spoiler, but I can't see how far in it goes? Does the spoiler rely on foam for some support?

 

I just had a brand new one installed, and it is loose. The service tech @ Toyota stated that the nuts cannot be tightened anymore or the studs will break off from the spoiler. Any ideas?

 

*BUMP*
That is to say, the spoiler is starting to rattle when I hit a bump. It is as tight as it can be, so I think that my only option is to pack the gap with stiff foam tape or similar.
It's not obvious from the photos above where the foam that I can see from the sides extends to. To reduce rattle do you think that it would be sufficient to follow the same contour as the foam with slightly thicker stuff? Measurements and photos appreciated.

 

Has anyone tried making a replacement spoiler out of either wood, fiberglass or sheet metal? The spoiler is not structurally critical and as long as the approximate dimensions and orientation of the original shape were followed, I do not thing it would significantly affect the drag coefficient or mpg.
I want a stiffer spoiler so that I can mount a small hard-shell carry-on underneath it to the side of the license plate for a bit more external storage. Clearly from all the posts in this thread, the ABS plastic version is too weak for that, so has anyone tried making something more solid?

 

that sounds cool, any chance you could describe it a bit more or picture, drawing, can't quiet follow it, but would like to do it.

Thanks